The present invention relates to freezers, and, in particular, to a freezer for making frozen desserts. This invention is related to three other concurrently-filed applications, entitled "FREEZER WITH GROOVED HEAT EXCHANGE SURFACE", "AERATOR FOR VISCOUS MATERIALS", and "DISPENSER FOR SOFT-SERVE FROZEN DESSERT MACHINE".
Frozen dessert machines include a freezing chamber and a dasher inside the freezing chamber for mixing the frozen dessert and scraping it from the surface of the freezer. The frozen dessert is dispensed from the front of the freezing chamber. In prior art soft-serve machines, the drive shaft for driving the dasher enters the back of the freezer, and the dasher connects to the drive shaft at the back of the freezer. The frozen dessert enters the freezer at the back and then moves to the front of the freezer to be dispensed out the front. There is a seal between the freezer and the drive shaft to prevent the liquid mix from making its way out of the freezer along the driveshaft. It is very common for that seal between the drive shaft and the freezer to leak, so liquid mix does make its way out of the freezer and falls somewhere in the back of the machine. That liquid mix then sits in the machine for an extended period of time, spoiling, attracting pests, and generally presenting an undesirable situation.
The freezer arrangement with the seal in the back of the machine also includes many nooks and crannies in the mechanism in which the product can accumulate. For that reason, health rules require the entire freezer to be taken apart piece by piece, washed, and reassembled every day. This is a very labor-intensive process. Also, since it does require so much work, some facilities do not do the required daily washing, thereby risking the health of their customers.